The death and life of Jang Nayeon: a case for personality rights in the digital layers of reality

Abstract

Abstract Inspired by the story of Jang Ji-sung and the virtual resurrection of her daughter, Nayeon, this article explores how the legal issues that arise when people (living or deceased) are digitally cloned and rendered into virtual or augmented reality ground a compelling argument for why UK law should recognize a broader suite of personality rights. Technologies once confined to the two-dimensional realm of print media or locked within the aspect ratio of a digital display are now manifesting in three dimensions. In the same way, that technological advancements in photography gave rise to the current formulation of privacy and publicity rights, innovations in virtual and augmented reality [collectively known as extended reality (XR) technology] foreshadow the next paradigm shift. Utilizing a series of hypothetical scenarios that illustrate the unique challenges XR technology poses, this article reveals how the UK’s lack of personality rights is becoming ever more problematic in the case of the living, and wholly indefensible in the case of the dead.